the team
I'm Hazel, a qualified teacher with over 30 years of teaching in mainstream and alternative settings. My career has taken me from inner city schools in London, to teaching English as a foreign language in Turkey, to the rolling Devon hills and much in between!
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The Patch Project inception is as a result of spending years working with young people and adults observing the marginalisation of students that struggle with the mainstream setting.
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Our aim is to provide a safe, creative nurturing space for students to develop and grow confidence in life skills. We are currently training in THRIVE. The THRIVE approach is a dynamic, developmental and trauma-sensitive approach to meeting the emotional and social needs of children and young people. Our team is comprised and qualified teachers from a variety of backgrounds and volunteers who have a range of skills to share.
Hazel
Founder & Lead Teacher at The Patch Project
Kat
Assistant Tutor & Art Teacher
I have a Degree from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, in which I specialised in jewellery and metal work.
I then worked for Devon County Council for a number of years as a Life Drawing Teacher before deciding to run classes privately which I have been doing now for 23 years.
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I am also involved in Sidmouth School of Art in which we go round various primary and secondary schools doing art projects, which often are relate to their local environment.​ We also participate in Seafest , a local festival once a year in which we offer numerous Art and craft activities based on the sea.
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Nothing makes me happier than doing art, the creative process is very therapeutic to me, but I also love been involved in group projects, especially with young people who bring such enthusiasm, energy and imagination to their creations.